Category Archives: Calling Out Assholes

So recently I’ve done a series of videos. Where yes, I am openly an asshole. I’m not nice. And I swear. A LOT. I openly am mocking the “current” attempt at recreating the American Council of Witches (not to be confused with the original, for whom I have the utmost respect and gratitude for paving the way for many pagans and followers of alternative beliefs in our society today) and anyone who appear to be involved in it.

Amongst the ranting and ravings that are possibly on par with the ravings of Rev. Ronald French when he’s discussing Christian Day (seriously, you could turn those videos into a drinking game at this point), are rambling musings of how we can possibly achieve pagan unity in the greater community. And musings on why it’s impossible – at this time – to achieve it.

All of the open mockery, and pure amusement on my side of things, I have extended an olive branch to the most vocal supporters of the current version/attempt of ACOW. I have also been very open as to the nature of my videos. They are rude, they are crude, they are offensive, they are mudslinging, and I will not lie about them. I will stand by them. How can I not? It’s my face in the videos. I could have easily just turned it into straight up audio only, as I had last year. But this is something I feel strongly enough about, I WILL put my face to it. Regardless, I am willing to set aside my personal opinions on the matter, and my personal biases, and have a live on air video chat with the most vocal supporter, Gabby “Canary Feather” Song.

My intents with this offer are legitimately sincere. I only wish to now the truth, and get to the bottom of this rabbit hole. Whether my offer is taken up or not, I won’t be offended given the barbs, venom, and pure unadulterated hostility that has been traded back and forth on both sides of the situation. None of us have clean hands here. And to pretend otherwise would in fact be hypocritical. But, if Ms. Song is willing to set aside the childish personal attacks and vendetta long enough to just have a civil chat, “face to face” so to speak via video chat, then maybe we can salvage this kerfuffle and move past it, chalk it all up to a learning experience of what not to do, and hope that in the future such a situation doesn’t pop up again.

United Pagan Radio…. At the top of this image, there are 6 copy and pasted screen captures from various publicly accessedpages on Facebook. All of these pages are run by Randi Rayne, the owner and operator of United Pagan Radio.

One night in March, there was a “Special broadcast” where a gentleman named Robert Aaron (whom some of you may know from the ACoW2015 scandals) was on the air talking about suicide. Specifically… his own. Many of his statements were NOT as the owner of the station claimed. Many who tuned in, some of which were elders of their pagan communities, some of which actually have degrees in psychology, were treated to a more than 2 hour programme that sounded like it promoted and endorsed suicide. The station owner silenced an elder who had called in with the intent to HELP Mr. Aaron, trying to talk him out of what all who were listening believed was a dramatic live and on air farewell. One woman stayed in the chatroom trying to speak with him until 3 in the morning, trying to also talk him out of what anyone could clearly see he was thinking of doing.

In the aftermath, suddenly a rash of posts across many United Pagan Radio affiliated pages appeared, along with a post on Mr. Robert Aaron’s infamous “The Pagan Truth Hurts” blog, essentially stating that the days of needing elders had passed. That elders were now useless and outdated. A new age of paganism is nigh, and so on, and so on. Anyone who disagrees is silenced. Anyone who does not praise the brave and courageous Robert Aaron is just trying to deliberately cause trouble.

Remember that pagan elder I spoke of, the one who had called in attempting to talk Mr. Aaron out of suicide? Station owner Randi Rayne cut off her call because it was upsetting her. Not because she was making a good point. Not because by not clearly stating anywhere or making it known anywhere during the broadcast that the show was NOT advocating for suicide, but was, as Ms. Rayne days later claimed was for suicide awareness and prevention. None of this. No. Simply the topic was just too much and she couldn’t handle the subject matter… nor the obvious. The broadcast was literally spur of the moment, unplanned and unscripted. And she didn’t like that people who had common sense, and an awareness of human nature, decided “Fuck it. We don’t like him, but we’re going to do our best to talk him out of doing this stupid act!”

No. Instead, the elder was cut off.

And the very next day, the slander began. On half of the pages affiliated with United Pagan Radio, Randi Rayne and Robert Aaron began their viscous attacks on Facebook. Those posts are not included, because they are now mysteriously deleted. Despite claims that people will no longer be censored

Click image to enlarge.

as well as AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED PAGAN RADIO STATION back in January in the wake of Charlie Hebdo,

Click image to enlarge.

people have continued to be silenced and censored. A woman who did not care personally for Robert Aaron took it upon herself to try and reach out to him, to talk him out of suicide, and her act of goodwill and an olive branch were cut down. Because the conversation was NOT going the way Ms. Rayne had expected, and the way Mr. Aaron had wanted.
SO……. This leads me back to the image at the top of this post. After catching a shit ton of flak for the slander and utter disrespect of a relatively well known elder here in the US, the posts collected in that image at the top started to appear. Suddenly, there’s all this new talk about how elders are obsolete and unnecessary.

Thanks, UPR, for COMPLETELY invalidating an entire section of the pagan community that encompasses traditions in which lineage matters (I’m lookin at you Gardnerians and Alexandrians).

Thank you, UPR, for completely disrespecting so many people who are part of the pagan community, and have been part of it since before your creation, since before quite a few of your show hosts were born.

And thank you, UPR, for attempting to form my opinion for me and telling me how to think, what to think, and that my respect for elders who can teach me the ways of the craft is completely misplaced.

Thank you, United Pagan Radio, for showing me that if you scream loud enough, if you use all caps, and if you copy and paste the same statement over and over again it’s a strong and logical point. And that if I disagree with you, I’m simply a mindless sheep.

Thank you for showing me the error of my ways and how much more awesome pagans you are. I mean really, you’re so fucking awesome and I’m just a mindless sheep…. because I can act civil and polite, and can actually ask an elder questions instead of demanding answers from them as if I am entitled to their hard earned knowledge from experience and years of study.

That’s the fucktard kind of Social Justice Warrior thinking that caused me to leave Tumblr. And it’s that kind of thinking that has just lost you a listener for good.

If anyone wants to comment, go for it. I’ll respond to each and every one. If you don’t have a WordPress account, and don’t want to get one just to comment, here’s the link for my contact page.